Steve Jobs was firm opponent to larger smartphones or smaller tablets, said Android was making a mistake

Late Apple, Inc. (AAPL) CEO Steven P. Jobs once infamously launched into a rant about why Apple only offered two size screens in its mobile lineup -- a 3.5-inch smartphone and a 10-inch tablet.

He commented, "The reason we wouldn't make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit a price point, it's because we don't think you can make a great tablet with a 7-inch screen. The 7-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad. [Increasing screen resolution on small devices is] meaningless, unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size."

"There are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touch screen before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps."

The Reuters report suggests that orders were placed with both South Korean and Japanese display providers, suggesting Apple is looking for a quick turnaround -- all signs pointing to hardware for a soon-to-launch product.

A 4-inch display would give the iPhone 30 percent more space and would help Apple keep up with Android and offer options for users with larger, less pixiesque fingers.

Of course these are just rumors, but it sounds like pretty much everyone is sure that Apple will be bumping its screen size after long admonishing Android for its diverse lineup of larger screen smartphones and mini-tablets.